Kade: Santanas Cuervo MC (9 page)

“I should have known!” Kade barked. “Kelly Oil
told
me they thought it was a drug cartel, and I blew them off! I thought I knew more than they did! That makes this
my
fault!”

“That’s
bullshit
and you know it!”
Bickers snapped.

“You said yourself there’s nothing in this for the cartels, and I agree,” Anders said more calmly.

“What about the truck?” Kade asked.

Bickers took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reeling in his annoyance with Kade. “I agree, that looks like cartel, but that still doesn’t answer the question of why. This is totally fucked up. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“You need to let this go, Kade,” Anders softly. “We’re all hurting right now, but you can’t take all the blame on yourself, and you doing something stupid will only mean we’ll be burying another brother. You.”

Kade nodded. They were right, and he knew they were right, but he couldn’t let go of the knot in his gut. “Yeah, okay. But I’m still going to stay on Winter.”

Bickers rolled his eyes. “What part of what we just said isn’t sinking in?”

“It’s not that. Not all that anyway. As I said, things are slow right now. I only have one job, and that’s for a livestock well because the one Tillis has is pumping sand when it gets really dry. He’s in no hurry to get it deepened because we’ve had some rain. That means that’s one less brother who needs to schedule around this. This is going to be hard enough as it is. If someone can spell me every now and again, I can make this work.”

“And why are you in the kill box all the time?” Bickers asked.

“Because that way we can use brothers as available. Every attempt has come during the day when she was away from her normal routine. I think we should set up a full parameter when she’s out in the field, then maybe pull that back to just the man inside at night and when she’s inside.”

“Yeah, about that. Why is that?” Anders asked. “How do they know when she’s going to be in the field unless they’re watching? And why then?”

Kade shrugged. “Maybe they
are
watching.” The three men scanned the landscape but saw nothing.

“But why wait until she’s out in the boonies?” Anders pressed.

“Harder to run, harder to get help, less chance of getting caught,” Bickers suggested. “I mean, look, we’re only what, twenty feet off the road now? The recorder truck’s the same way. There’s not a lot of traffic, but a rancher could come by at any moment, and we’d see the dust cloud from a mile away. But out in the scrub? Plus, if you think about it, that’s about the only time she’s out in the open. If whoever is trying to get to her wanted to try to take her in the RV or the truck, they’re going to have to get in close. More risk that way. In the recorder truck there’s a witness who would have to be killed. Who’s to say she doesn’t have a gun? Does she have a gun?”

“I don’t know,” Kade replied. “But she will by tomorrow if she doesn’t already.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Anders replied.

“You’re not worried about them sneaking up in the middle of the night?” Bickers asked.

“Yes, but that’s on me. They’ll have to come into the RV, and when they open the door, I’ll be waiting.”

Bickers and Anders looked at each other. “I still don’t like it. How are you going to protect her if you’re strung out all the time?” Bickers asked.

Kade shrugged. “I’ll sleep when she does. I’ll make sure the door to the RV is locked when we’re in here. They won’t be able to get in before I hear them.”

“I still don’t like the fact you’re always the one in harm’s way.” Bickers said softly. “It smells like guilt to me.”

“I’m open to suggestions if you have a better plan.”

“Rotate people inside,” Anders said. “Like we were doing before.”

“I know where you’re coming from, but that reduces the number of brothers we can call on when we go into the field,” Kade explained. “That’s when I’m
really
going to need the help, and I don’t want brothers who can get away at a moment’s notice, like you and Bickers, spending their time when nothing is likely to happen. I need guys like you when we have to go into the field. The other guys, the ones who can’t drop everything and ride out for coverage, they can be the ones who cover for me if I need to do something.”

“She could stop going into the field,” Anders suggested

“You’ve met Winter Kelly?” Kade asked. “If you can convince her of that, I’m all for it.”

“Okay,” Bickers said. “I still don’t like it, but we’ll try it your way. But I still think we need to scatter brothers around. Have them coming and going as they can, so
if
somebody is watching, they’ll never be sure when someone might show up. Did you get the sat phones?”

“Yes. They’re in the bike. You and Anders each take one. I’ll use Winter’s. At least then I can reach you if I need to.”

“If you call on the bat phone, we’ll haul ass out here with as much firepower as we can get together, but you’ll still be on your own for almost an hour. That’s why we need people circulating in and out, so help is close.” Bickers grimaced. “Being out in the middle of fucking nowhere like this makes this hard.”

“Okay, that sounds like a good idea,” Kade relented. “It’ll be nice knowing help is already on the way if the shit starts hitting the fan.”

Kade opened the door and stepped back into the RV. “Okay, we have a plan. I’m going to be your shadow from now on. If I ask you, will you stop going into the field?”

“I can’t do that! It’s my job!” she protested.

“I figured. Okay, but you can’t decide to do that on a moment’s notice either. We’ll need some time to setup.”

“How much time?”

Kade shrugged. “Figure at least a couple of hours. We’re going to call in a bunch of men to sweep the area first, then form a ring around you.”

“Two hours? I may not have two hours notice.”

“Winter, this is serious, okay? Your life is in danger. Today proved that. How much is your life worth? If you can’t work with us on this, I’m going to call Kelly Oil and suggest they call you back to Houston.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I will. Don’t push me on this. I lost a friend today. He gave his life protecting you. He’s not going to have made that sacrifice for nothing. I’m not going to lose you, too.”

That hit her hard and she teared up. “Yes. Okay. You’re right.”

Kade nodded. “Bickers, stay with her. Anders, you’re with me. I have to drive the Jeep back to get my bike, and I need you bring the Jeep back then stay with Bickers. I have to go home for some clothes and stuff, and I need to check on Tryst and break the news to Lilly. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“We’ve got her,” Bickers said.

Kade looked at her, then nodded before stepping into the hot Texas sun, all the brothers save Bickers following him.

Winter watched the men file out of her RV.
I thought they were just hired guns or thugs. But they really care for each other. Dugger gave his life for mine, and Tryst would have. And even after that, they’re still willing to put their lives on the line.
Even though she’d only met Dugger, all the men really, she still felt the pang of his loss.

“I want to go to Dugger’s funeral,” Winter said suddenly.

“What?”

“When you have Dugger’s funeral, I want to go and pay my respects. I need to tell his wife, Lilly? I need to tell Lilly what he did. He died a hero, and I want her to know that.”

Bickers nodded, his respect for Winter inching up another notch. “We’ll make sure you’re there.”

“Thank you,” Winter said as Kade offered her a glass of water. They were in the Santanás Cuervo clubhouse, along with all the brothers and sisters of the club
and
the crews from the drilling rig. She’d probably catch even more hell from her dad for shutting the rig down for half day, but she couldn’t have cared less. He was already pissed at her for her refusal to return to Houston until the sounding was finished, despite the latest attempt on her life.

The men on the rig had come to Dugger’s funeral to pay their respects. The roughnecks and the bikers couldn’t be from two more different worlds, but four days before they’d each earned the respect of the other. The bikers had put it on the line for Winter and Bruce, and the roughnecks had repaid in kind by coming for Tryst and Dugger. They’d found Tryst staggering under the weight of his friend as he carried him, struggling to bring his brother home. The roughnecks had reverently taken Dugger from Tryst and laid him gently in the back of the truck on a bed of their own shirts.

“That wasn’t what I expected,” she said.

“What?”

“The funeral.”

She’d ridden to Rio Bonita in one of several company trucks, surrounded by burly men. They didn’t have clothing for a funeral and had to attend in obvious, but clean, work clothes. Nobody cared and the Santanás Cuervos had acknowledged them with nods of respect.

The brothers had arrived on bikes, dressed all in black, their vests worn proudly, riding as an honor guard for the hearse. They pulled Dugger’s casket from the big black car, handing it brother to brother down a double line, every man taking part of the load, until the final six men, Tryst, Kade, Bickers, Hedly, Morell and Stuart, carried the coffin to the gravesite before pausing as the brothers once again lined up to pass Dugger to the scaffolding over his final resting place.

The men then formed up and stood with military precision as a minister gave the eulogy, their faces grave and hard. When the eulogy was finished, Kade stepped forward and said a few words before he stepped to the coffin, removed a raven pin that matched their colors from his vest, and drove it into the top of Dugger’s casket with a hard thump of his fist. He stepped away and knelt before Lilly and Jacob, Dugger’s wife and son, and said a few soft words. Each man stepped forward, one at a time as the previous man rose from Lilly and Jacob, and repeated Kade’s ritual of removing the pin and driving into place before kneeling and speaking. The ritual was carried out with utmost respect, the traditions of the club obviously important to them, and Winter had wept openly.

“That was beautiful what you said,” she said softly.

Kade had spoken briefly how the club had changed, how Dugger had given his life in service to another, and how the club was now working for the betterment of their fellow man, creating a new tradition they could be proud of.

Kade looked down and stared at the floor. “That was second the hardest thing I have ever done. Only telling Lilly that Clint was dead was harder.”

“Do you think she’ll talk to me?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. If she’ll see me.”

Kade gave her a sad smile and took her hand as he steered her toward a knot of brothers. As they approached Lilly, the crowd parted to allow them through.

Winter wasn’t able to get the first word out before she started crying. “I’m so, so, sorry for your loss,” she said, struggling through her tears to get out what she wanted to say. “If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here today. He died a hero, and I’ll never forget what he did.”

Lilly’s face twisted as Winter spoke, pulling Jacob in close for support. “Thank you,” she whimpered.

Winter gave her head a tiny shake and gasped softly, trying to get control of her emotions, Lilly’s pain washing over her and tearing at her heart. She didn’t know Dugger had a son, and as soon as she returned to Houston she was going to talk to her dad about Kelly Oil setting up a trust to make sure Jacob could attend college.

Kade could see the grief of the two women were feeding on each other, so he gently pulled Winter away to break the cycle. “Oh God,” she sniffed, wiping at her eyes as she allowed Kade to lead her away, “that was hard.”

“That’s a good thing you did, and it took guts.”

“I had to.”

“You didn’t, but I’m sure Lilly appreciated it.”

She kept close to the group of roughnecks, the group feeling uncomfortable and like outsiders as the club grieved. After a time, Kade broke away and approached the group, shaking each man’s hand warmly and thanking him for coming. The rest of the club followed his lead, with Tryst last in line, adding a special thanks to each man who had come to his aid.

The employees of Kelly Oil left soon after, but to a man they would never look at a motorcycle club in quite the same way again.

***

“It’s for you,” Winter said the next day as she glanced at the number on her sat phone then handed it to Kade.

“Kade.”

“We’re about to run off Eagle Pass,” Juice said.

“Okay. We’ll meet you at the RV.” Kade killed the call then handed her phone back. “Food’s here. Or will be in about twenty minutes.”

“We could have gotten groceries ourselves,” Winter said.

“The guys were coming anyway. Why should we drive almost two hours when we can have them do it?”

Winter snickered. This was the last day of sounding. She’d stay another few days until the rig was fully on line, then return home to Houston where she’d start analyzing the core samples the rig would start bringing up.

“Charlie, I’ll see you back in Houston,” she said as she closed down her laptop.

Charlie spun in his chair to face Kade then rose and extended his hand. “It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, Kade.”

Kade took the man’s hand and shook it firmly as he smiled. “Nice to meet you, too, Charlie. If you get back to the area, look us up.”

“I might just do that.”

Kade nodded and stepped out, scanning the area while Winter waiting out of sight in the box. There was nothing in sight so he gave her a quick wave and hurried her to her Jeep. It was beat all to hell, but it still worked.

I can’t believe how much people’s perception of the Santanás Cuervo have changed in the last two weeks, and especially in the last few days,
Winter reflected as Kade drove them to her RV. She knew her perception had been changing since the first day, but in the last few days, having Kade around all the time, she could truly get a sense of the man. He was thoughtful and kind, and cared deeply for his brothers. He always thought of them before himself and, though he tried to hide it, she could tell he was still hurting over Dugger’s death. Sometimes at night, as she was preparing for bed, she’d see him sitting in a chair as he stared at the door. His body was in the coach with her, but his mind was a million miles away.

There had been no more attempts on her life since the previous two. Kade was as vigilant as ever, but she was beginning to relax. He pulled to a stop by the RV, turning the Jeep so her door was closest to it. He left the Jeep running as he unlocked the RV and stepped inside, reappearing a moment later and opening her door. They had it down to a routine. As he opened her door, she reached over and switched off the engine but left the keys in the ignition before he hustled her inside, locking the door behind them. It was all very grave and dramatic, and she was beginning to wonder if Kade was taking things a bit too seriously, but then she’d remember Dugger and his sacrifice, and feel ashamed.

They heard the rumble of approaching motorcycles, and Kade peeked out a window as Bickers, Anders, and Duck rolled to a stop and began to dismount. A moment later, Big Dick’s truck pulled to a stop, and he and Greg Powers stepped out.

“Wait inside,” Kade reminded her as he stepped out to help lug in the supplies as quickly as possible. “Juice! You decided to tag along?”

“Yeah! I brought something to show you.”

The six men got the supplies into the RV in one trip, then Juice returned to Big Dick’s truck and returned with a rifle case. “Angelina gave me this yesterday for my birthday,” Juice said as he opened the case and pulled out a bolt-action rifle with a wood stock in a beautiful satin finish.

She grinned as the men oohed and aahed over the gun while she put away the refrigerated items. Finished, she walked up. “May I see?”

Juice handed her the weapon. She worked the bolt with practiced ease, then popped the gun up to her shoulder and peered through the scope. She brought it back down then opened the bolt again.

“I always liked the Remington 700s. They’re a sweet shooting rifle.” She looked into the chamber. “Is this chambered for the Ruger 204 or the .223?”

“Uh, .223.”

She popped the bolt shut again and brought it her shoulder again before lowering it and handing it back to Juice. “Nice little varmint gun you have there.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, as if he was having a hard time believing Winter was so knowledgeable while reaching to take the gun back.

She grinned, delighting in everyone shocked expression. “I used to shoot skeet with Dad, before his heart problems. I grew up around guns.”

“Anyway,” Juice said, recovering, “I thought I’d go out and shoot some cans before dark.”

“I don’t suppose you’d let me have a go?” she asked as she looked at Kade. “
Please
?” she begged, making her eyes big and twisting her hands together under her chin in exaggerated hopefulness.

The men chuckled. “Actually, I’d like to see you shoot,” Kade said. “Let us check it out first, and if the coast is clear, sure, why not.”

She grinned. “I was sure you’d say no.”

He shrugged and grinned back. “You have to promise not to show us up, though.”

“No deal.”

***

Being gentlemen, they had let her go first. She squeezed off a round as she leaned over the hood of Big Dick’s truck, the rifle resting on a sandbag. “It’s shooting low right.” She pulled the caps off the scope adjustment and dialed in some correction. She worked the bolt then leaned into the truck and slowly let her breath out as she squeezed the trigger. “Still low.” She dialed in a little more adjustment and a touch back to the right. She fired again, and hit the can. She adjusted the scope again, then ripped off two more shots, working the bolt without changing her position, making the can spin and dance.

She stood, pulled her hearing protection off as the men pulled their fingers out of their ears, and handed the rifle to Juice. “It’s pretty close now. You’ll need a sighting target to really zero it in.”

Kade began to chuckle, his laugh infecting the others. He pulled his pistol and handed it to her. “Let’s see what you can do with that.”

She took the Sig Sauer and pulled the slide back to check for one in the chamber. She placed the pistol on the sand bag she was shooting from and put her hearing protection back on. “I’m not nearly as good with a pistol.”

“Uh-huh,” Kade grunted as he tossed a can about twenty feet out then covered his ears again.

Winter squeezed off four slow shots, hitting the can three times. She handed the gun back to Kade. “Shoots nice.”

He pulled the muffs off her head and covered his own ears as she stuck her fingers in hers. He emptied the gun into the target, the can never still until he clicked on empty. He pulled the hearing protection off and handed them back to Juice.

“I’ll let you pick them off at long range, then I’ll handle any you miss.”

She grinned, feeling better than she had in days. “Maybe you can give me some pointers?”

He grinned. “Love to, and you can teach me to shoot skeet. I can’t hit shit with a rifle or shotgun.”